Overweight Britons are among the fattest in Europe

Britons are fatter than their Italian, Spanish and French neighbours and are among the heaviest people in Europe, according to figures from the European Commission.

A league table based on the average body mass index - a World Health Organisation-recognised measure - shows that the average person in the UK is overweight.

Three-quarters of the European nations surveyed tip the scales at well above the recommended levels. Residents of only seven member countries are, on average, a healthy weight.

The slimmest nation, according to the survey, is Italy. There the average index, which is based on a person's weight in relation to their height, is 24.3.

According to WHO guidelines, anyone with a BMI of between 18.5 and 25 is a healthy weight. Anyone less than 18.5 is considered underweight.

Between 25 and 30 is overweight and anything over 30 is classed as obese.

The only other countries with an average index in the healthy range are France, Turkey, Austria, Romania, Poland and the Netherlands.

The UK's average index is 25.4, putting it into the overweight category. The fattest country in Europe is Malta where the average resident has a BMI of 26.6.

Dr Ian Campbell, medical director of Weight Concern, said an ideal index is 22, so anything above that means the individual could be suffering the effects of being overweight.

He said: "Body mass index is an excellent tool for looking at populations and trends. It is always concerning that we in this country have among the worst figures in Europe.

But it is little consolation for the countries with a lower index because they are all over 24 and that means there is double the risk of developing diabetes than if the figure was 22, which is ideal.

"In the UK and other northern European countries we have been quicker to adopt an American style of eating big portions and convenience food and we tend to be more sedentary."

This week ministers from across the EU are due to meet in Istanbul to agree an anti-obesity charter. Experts fear that obesity rates are now rising so fast that this generation of children could be the first to be outlived by their parents. The research warns that a third of British adults and a fifth of children will be obese by 2010 if trends continue.

Reijo Kemppinen, head of the European Commission in the UK, said: "Obesity is one of the major issues affecting this generation."